Facebook Launches Video Calls, Powered by Skype

Facebook finally settled the rumors on Wednesday. Through a partnership with Skype, Facebook is rolling out integrated video calling to the public beginning immediately.

The new integrated feature will not require the separate Skype client, but instead, just a touted “under 30 second wait” on your first use to install, call and chat.

This all happens seamlessly within the website, too, so it won’t disrupt your photo commenting session or ‘like’ rampage.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced group instant messaging and a design overhaul to Facebook IM. The design overhaul will bring a new “buddy list” sidebar to the site so that it’s easier to start a conversation (finally!). Both features will be launched beside video calling.

If you’re like us and are too impatient to wait until the rollout, you can set up video calling manually and use it right now. So far, we’re impressed, but what does this mean for competing Google+?